Determining Flood Prone Areas in Edo State Using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing

Abstract

Flooding is a natural occurring disaster that occurs when a usually dry area becomes submerged in water due to heavy rainfall, melting snow, or overflowing rivers. It can cause extensive damage to property, infrastructure and pose risk to human lives. This study employs Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing methods to evaluate flood-prone areas in Edo State, Nigeria. Eight flood determining factors such as elevation, rainfall, distance to road, distance to river, land use land cover, soil texture, slope factors and drainage density were computed, mapped, weighted and overlaid together to identify and map potential flood prone areas in the study area. The result show that the slope factor in the southern and Central region of the study area is low compared to the other regions, which increase the susceptibility of flooding in that area.  The southern part of the study area has low elevation factor, hence will easily be prone to flooding. Likewise, the southern part of the study area has higher amount of rainfall relative to other part. The result revealed that most part of Edo state is prone to flooding. Policymakers, emergency and other relevant agencies should be effective in deploying resources for disaster preparedness, mitigation, and response operations